TOPIC: Nato Letter regarding VPF Deadlines

I received the following per E-Mail and thought I share it with everyone:

August 22, 2012
TO: ALL NATO MEMBERS OPERATING IN THE U.S. and CANADA

FROM: JOHN FITHIAN, PRESIDENT & CEO

RE: MY LAST URGENT PLEA REGARDING DIGITAL CINEMA VPF PLANS

If you have already converted to digital cinema, or have signed up for a VPF deal and are moving forward with the transition, you need not read this message further. If you are drive-in operator, there will likely be some additional time for you to sign up. But for any other NATO members, please be aware that the effective deadline to sign up for most VPF deals is a few weeks away, and that some of the integrators' VPF screen caps may also come into play soon.

UNDER THE VPF PROGRAMS FOR CINEDIGM, CHRISTIE and GDC, THE SIGNING DEADLINE IS SEPTEMBER 30, 2012. For practical purposes, you should have your paperwork in by September 15 in order to work through processing by the deadline. So if you have not signed up, and want to participate in one of these programs, you have less than one month to do so.

You do not have to be installed by the September 30 deadline, but you do have to be signed up. The installation deadlines vary for the three integrators, and some have recently changed. I believe that the current installation deadlines are December 31, 2012 for Cinedigm; April 30, 2013 for GDC, and October 2013 for Christie. (But please confirm these deadlines directly with the providers).

Also, keep in mind that each integrator has a maximum number of screens they may cover with their VPF program, as negotiated between them and the studios. One of the integrators told me today that they are within a few hundred screens of their maximum cap. When the total screen allotment of any integrator is exhausted, they cannot sign any more deals even if the signing deadlines haven't been reached.

We described the digital cinema transition in detail in a comprehensive report on digital cinema that we distributed to all NATO members one year ago. Now the reality is here.

We decided against the VPF route once we talked with other owner/operators about their experiences in the program. With cheaper DCI compliant projectors right around the corner (well, for our needs), it actually made more sense to just pay the $$ ourselves.